I just received an e-mail from Hotel Congress asking people to e-mail the City Council. Hotel Congress wants to open a neighborhood market and eatery where Central Bistro failed.

That sounds like a good idea to me, because there is no neighborhood market downtown. The train depot has a parking lot which is a necessity for a neighborhood market. And the owners of Hotel Congress (Richard and Shana Oseran) certainly are experienced business owners, unlike the previous proprietors of Central Bistro who failed to create a buzz and were handed the business on a silver platter including heavy subsidies—and still failed.

If you support this idea, please e-mail City Council ASAP. For all we know, they may have some other prospects in mind. Last time, their decision was not made on history and business accumen. At least get someone in there who has a following and experience as successful business owners.

City Council:

This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2007.

7 replies on “New Idea for Vacant Historic Train Depot”

  1. I also got this email. I was disappointed that more information about their business plan was not provided.

  2. The info on what they hope to do was in this weekend’s paper.
    I have emailed all the Council urging them to go forward with the plan.
    This is a prime property and has the potential to be a great spot. downtown could use a market/fresh food venue.
    The folks at Club Congress know what they are doing and should be given the opportunity to do what they did for the hotel at this historic spot.
    Sadly, the previous owners used the road work as an excuse.
    I have received emails back from Trasoff and Scott only so far.
    It will be interesting to see who else responds.

  3. so wanda were you emailing the Council as a journalist/WRITER for a story? if so i look forward to reading it.
    but if you were doing it as a citizen i thought journalists did not do that sort of thing, participate in politics and such.
    but i could be confused on that point.

  4. “The train depot has a parking lot which is a necessity for a neighborhood market.” (Filed by Karyn Zoldan @ 1:08 pm )

    Maybe it’s just Red Star, but isn’t there some (convoluted) (unintentional) irony in the above?

    Perhaps someday the (City-owned) real estate in question will end up a Walgreens or something…it’s not likely to be a cutesy tres chic boutique neighborhood market because there is no neighborhood thereabouts…and city planner jobs are at stake.

    Red Star has long found Witold Rybczynski’s “Downsizing Cities” (The Atlantic Monthly, October 1995, pp 36-47) interesting and unlikely to get to Tucson in time.

    Tell these people what Red Star said:

    http://www.tucsonaz.gov/rionuevo/contact/index.html

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